We’ve pretty well created the conditions for abject desperation and criminalized despair, not to mention spending taxpayer dollars on stupid stuff instead of food, shelter, healthcare, education and infrastructure and made calling 911 for any reason deadly a lot of the time so yeah.
A friend recently called and told me she stopped at a Chinese restaurant on the way to deposit her rent and noticed her wallet missing at the bank. She called the restaurant and told them where she had been seated and to please check the area and the path from there to the exact restroom stall she used. Nothing and no one reported anything. She asked if they had surveillance cameras and the manager said they did and had her return to view the footage together. She did and it showed an employee picking up her wallet at the restroom entrance. The employee hasn’t reported it but nothing inside the wallet was disturbed. She got lucky. If she hadn’t gone to the bank immediately after leaving, I’m not sure what would have happened. I’m hoping the employee simply hasn’t had time to find and notify the manager, during the lunch rush but who knows? She got lucky is all we really know for sure. This story sticks with me because some years ago, another popular restaurant in a town a few hours away from where she was was raised for human trafficking and forced labor (the local authorities allowed the former owner’s brother to take ownership of the establishment, which seems troubling).